scrubbing

an old college roommate, who grew up in denver, asked me what i remembered about "scrubbing," a form of hazing that was common in schools, but looked down upon by the social communities, in the 70's.

part of the reason i started this blog was to catch these types of exchanges so we'll see how this goes ...

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my memory fades on all this stuff, but i remember the possibilities as being scrubbed by 7th graders ("sevvies") on the last day of 6th grade class (which was no problem for me, because i lived across the street from the school ground) ... and then getting scrubbed by the 9th graders when you were in 7th grade -- again i remember that event being attached to the last day of school.

getting "pantsed" (having your pants forcibly taken off) was considered to be a real possibility (i seem to remember that happening to a friend of mine), as was getting your mouth washed out with soap, or getting lipsticked (i saw a kid who'd gotten that once). getting an extreme version of what was in our neighborhood called a "chinese sam" (what others called a "wedgie" or a "melvin") was part and parcel of the affair, and it was understood that you'd just generally get roughed-up -- possibly severely -- as part of the deal.

it was, essentially, a medium form of psychological terrorism ... and the pre-pubescent need to just-get-along, crossed with the rumor mill of the 12 year old social set, made the whole thing pretty goddamn daunting.

unlike the act of smashing pumpkins (which at the time i felt was unbelievably destructive of personal property, but i now think of as kind of funny, if not outright endearing), i still think of scrubbing as heinous. i was a tiny, geeky kid -- shortest in my class, always *sitting* on the floor in the front row for photos -- and i got picked on mercilessly. scrubbing was the jewel in the crown of abuse, and mine was somewhat bigger than most thanks to my binge-alcoholic father (who may-or-may-not have been drunk when i walked through the door at my safe-haven of home).

remember, i went to the jeffco schools, not denver ... so i'm sure it was a bit different where i was.

and even though i was never scrubbed; i feared it, i dreaded it, and i'm glad those times are passed.